Davis clung to the side of the car as Sully swerved around the final
corner on their way to the scene of a shootout. Cops were everywhere, and
Davis recognised a few of them, two in particular.
The first stood with her hands on her hips near the back, one hand hovering readily near her sidearm. Her light hair was tied back loosely in a bun that seemed reluctant to remain fastened. She was bundled up in polo shirt, jacket zipped up, and police cap, gloves covering her hands.
The second stood with his gun already drawn, his dark eyes never leaving the building that was the centre of everyone's attention. He too, like his partner was wrapped up against the cold, gloves covering his hands. The top of his polo neck shirt poked out from beneath his jacket.
Boscorelli and Yokas.
Sully and Davis climbed out of the car, walking right over to Yokas. She turned to greet them, even as a shot filled the sky, and screams pierced the air. Everyone instinctively ducked.
"Dammit, we should be goin' in there," Bosco growled angrily through clenched teeth, jabbing his gun in the direction he meant.
"No, Bos', we stay here until told otherwise," Yokas insisted, shaking her head in determination.
Bosco sighed loudly, and faced the building again.
Davis looked to the building. It seemed to be a private business of some kind, and from the looks of it, they made quite a lot of money from whatever they sold. The building was extremely well cared for. They looked to have had some exterior work done on the building recently, which seemed a little bit of a shame considering it was now being used as the scene for a shootout.
Two other officers who Davis recognised moved over, both men, and both reasonably tall. They looked about the same age, one with dark hair, and one with fair. Davis knew them as Faraday and Gregory.
"Anybody seen anything yet?" Faraday inquired, being the louder of the two officers. His partner rarely spoke.
"I've seen movement a couple of times," Bosco commented, and Yokas confirmed with a silent nod. "No one's come out yet. They haven't even told us whether or not they have hostages."
Just then, someone was seen bolting down an alley adjacent to the side of the building, and running as fast as his legs would carry him away from the scene.
Bosco was after him like a shot, and Yokas, Sully, Davis, Faraday and Gregory were soon in pursuit in their squad cars. The other officers remained behind; knowing that more than one shooter had decided to hold up the business.
Davis felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, recognising the rush of adrenalin that came whenever he and the others were in pursuit.
He took a deep breath, and kept his eyes on the road and alleys.
* * *
Bosco gripped his gun carefully, even as they emerged out of the alley, one right after the other, the fleeing culprit stumbling for a moment, but still not falling behind enough for the officer to catch him or knock him down. Bosco almost slipped on some discarded garbage, cursed momentarily, and carried on.
The man, dressed roughly in tightly fastened shirt, sweater and torn jacket, ran out into the road, dodging cars and trucks, diving out of the way when he reached the other side.
Bosco was right behind him, sliding over the hood of a Mercedes when it failed to stop, shouting angrily at the driver for a split second, barely even slowing. Still, he managed to keep a hold of his gun.
The guy had managed to get a good few metres ahead of Bosco, but that didn't put him off at all. He knew he was going to catch this guy. He rarely failed to.
Bosco heard the wailing of sirens, and apparently, so did the man he was chasing. His head tilted noticeably, and his pace quickened amazingly.
Bosco panted as he ran, his breath escaping him quickly in the heat of pursuit. They were coming up on an intersection on the corner of Columbus and West-97th. Bosco saw a squad car skid to a halt right in front of the man, causing him to ram right into the hood.
Yokas skidding up alongside the sidewalk where Bosco ran caused him to halt abruptly, looking down at her in the driver's seat, and then over the wide street to the two cops bursting out of their unit and grabbing the man roughly.
They struggled for quite a time, fighting to restrain him.
Bosco sighed loudly and irritably, and holstered his weapon, moving around the car, Yokas climbing out of the driver's seat.
But as he cleared the unit, he saw Faraday rammed back into the hood of the squad, and Gregory grabbed tightly by the scruff of his uniform. With his free hand, the criminal tore open his jacket, and pressed something with considerable force.
Bosco and Yokas were thrown to the ground with the force of the massive explosion, which sent the squad car on the other side of the street soaring high into the air in a fiery ball. Windows close by shattered with the shockwave, and people all around screamed in terror.
Bosco covered his head instinctively, even as glass and metal crashed down around him. After a moment, he risked looking out from beneath his arm, and felt his breath sucked out of him in horror when the squad car landed with a boom on the road, flames erupting from beneath the hood of the vehicle.
He scrambled to his feet, Yokas right behind him, her hair dislodged and whipping around her head with the heat wave that floated over to them quickly from the burning vehicle.
Sully and Davis arrived then, even as Bosco was running quickly to a body that lay motionless on the road close to where he had last been standing. Bosco felt for a pulse, surprised at the heat of the man's skin as he touched it. He was badly burned, but as Bosco turned him over, he realised Faraday had never had a chance. Half of his face was missing.
He felt his eyes glancing around frantically for any sign of Gregory, finding nothing. The young man had been completely blown apart, as had the criminal they had been in pursuit of.
"He was wearin' a bomb," Yokas told Sully in shock as they, along with Davis, stood a few feet back, the latter calling for backup and an ambulance.
"Dammit!" Bosco exclaimed, standing immediately, and staring around. "Don't bother, Davis... they're all dead, all three of 'em."
* * *
Despite Bosco's declaration, Officer Ty Davis had gone ahead with his call for a bus, which had soon arrived. They had gone straight over to Faraday, and they had agreed with the assessment that he was dead... and had probably died instantly upon detonation of the bomb.
Faith couldn't believe what was going on. Even as she let the paramedic finish patching up her left hand, which had been cut from a piece of falling glass from the shattered windows of their squad car, Faith Yokas let out a long and troubled sigh.
She didn't like this at all. She had known Graham Faraday and William Gregory very well, and had worked with them on more than one occasion. She had also enjoyed their company more than once also, and she was missing the two young men already. They had been good cops, and had never stepped out of line. They had been passionate about their work, and had done a damn good job whenever they were on a patrol.
This shouldn't be happening, she mused with a frown, her eyes looking around slowly at the scene of carnage in the intersection.
The destroyed squad car sat, mostly burned and charred, pieces missing, across the street where the firemen had successfully managed to put out the flames. The windows were gone, and the tyres had burst instantly, leaving only the centre of the axel. The interior of the vehicle was blackened, the Perspex window in the back melted and warped, hanging out of shape beside twisted metal that cut criminals off from police officers. The light casings on the top of the car had been blown off, and the bulbs inside were smouldered, useless.
Three shops had had their windows blown in from the force of the explosion, and one had even caught on fire. The fire fighters had managed to put that out quite quickly as well, and barely anything was damaged.
Bosco and Faith's squad car itself was far from perfect. When the bomb had been detonated, the sheer force of the explosion had sent the windows smashing out, including one headlight. Debris had landed on it as well, denting the hood in two places, and charring it in one other. Glass littered the interior, and some shards had fallen to the road, where Faith had cut her hand without even realising. It had only been when Sully had pointed out the blood that she had even noticed the pain.
Bosco wandered over, having cleared his check with the paramedics, and zipped up his jacket again, shaking his head. Faith realised how tough this had to be on him. Bosco had seen Spencer die yesterday, had saved Hinds life, only to hear of her death this morning, and now this... it was too much for everyone. Police littered the streets, all grave and mournful.
"I don't get it, Faith," Bosco began pensively; eyes turning back to the burned squad Faraday and Gregory had been driving. "If that guy had had the bomb all along, and was hell-bent on not getting' caught, then what was stopping him from turning around blowin' me sky-high?"
Faith nodded her thanks to the paramedic as they finished their work, letting her replace her polo shirt and jacket, and then said in response, "Maybe he wanted a bigger target."
"He could've just blown up the store they were holdin' up," Bosco commented matter-of-factly, pocketing his gloved hands.
Faith stared down at the ground, her mind swelling chaotically with a thousand thoughts that fought for first priority, before she finally mumbled, "They wanted cops."
Their eyes met, and for a moment, Faith was certain she saw a flash of fear in Bosco's eyes, before it was efficiently replaced with anger and rage. She realised then that she should have chosen her words more carefully. Now that she had said that, she knew Bosco would make it his responsibility to avenge his fellow officers' deaths. She didn't want to lose her partner over this.
"I still don't get it," he growled quietly, continuing immediately after a sigh, "if he was so determined to kill cops... if he wanted cops, as you say, then why didn't he just stand out in the middle of the street in front of that building, and blow the bomb as we were arrestin' him?"
"Bosco..." Faith began, just as an approaching figure drew her attention, and she groaned. "Oh great," she grumbled, "Tancreedy."
"I prefer Tancreedy to Finch," Bosco pointed out, kicking half- heartedly at something on the road that wasn't really there.
"How can you prefer him?" Faith asked, lowering the volume of her voice as the detective closed in on them. Just before he called to them, Sully called him over, stalling him without even realising. Faith watched the man move over, and sighed her thanks to Sully for the distraction.
"I just do."
"He's a bigger bigot than Finch is," Faith noted aloud, narrowing her eyes at the back of the man's head momentarily, before gazing back at her partner.
"Tancreedy's not a bigot." Bosco shrugged. "He just has a lot of opinions."
"Yeah," Faith agreed with a vehement nod, "bigoted opinions. Bos', he's three times worse than you!"
Bosco moved a step closer, eyes downcast for a moment, before he said with sincerity, "Faith, I don't think we should argue right now, you know?" He nodded in the direction of the destroyed squad, and the body bag that they were loading Faraday into.
Faith felt her brow furrow with sadness, and she nodded, a lump forming in her throat. She managed to push it back down as she replied in agreement, "Yeah, you're right, Bos'. It's not right."
As one, the two turned, eyes watching the coroner's movement as he worked, shortly before Tancreedy continued on his way over to them.
The first stood with her hands on her hips near the back, one hand hovering readily near her sidearm. Her light hair was tied back loosely in a bun that seemed reluctant to remain fastened. She was bundled up in polo shirt, jacket zipped up, and police cap, gloves covering her hands.
The second stood with his gun already drawn, his dark eyes never leaving the building that was the centre of everyone's attention. He too, like his partner was wrapped up against the cold, gloves covering his hands. The top of his polo neck shirt poked out from beneath his jacket.
Boscorelli and Yokas.
Sully and Davis climbed out of the car, walking right over to Yokas. She turned to greet them, even as a shot filled the sky, and screams pierced the air. Everyone instinctively ducked.
"Dammit, we should be goin' in there," Bosco growled angrily through clenched teeth, jabbing his gun in the direction he meant.
"No, Bos', we stay here until told otherwise," Yokas insisted, shaking her head in determination.
Bosco sighed loudly, and faced the building again.
Davis looked to the building. It seemed to be a private business of some kind, and from the looks of it, they made quite a lot of money from whatever they sold. The building was extremely well cared for. They looked to have had some exterior work done on the building recently, which seemed a little bit of a shame considering it was now being used as the scene for a shootout.
Two other officers who Davis recognised moved over, both men, and both reasonably tall. They looked about the same age, one with dark hair, and one with fair. Davis knew them as Faraday and Gregory.
"Anybody seen anything yet?" Faraday inquired, being the louder of the two officers. His partner rarely spoke.
"I've seen movement a couple of times," Bosco commented, and Yokas confirmed with a silent nod. "No one's come out yet. They haven't even told us whether or not they have hostages."
Just then, someone was seen bolting down an alley adjacent to the side of the building, and running as fast as his legs would carry him away from the scene.
Bosco was after him like a shot, and Yokas, Sully, Davis, Faraday and Gregory were soon in pursuit in their squad cars. The other officers remained behind; knowing that more than one shooter had decided to hold up the business.
Davis felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest, recognising the rush of adrenalin that came whenever he and the others were in pursuit.
He took a deep breath, and kept his eyes on the road and alleys.
* * *
Bosco gripped his gun carefully, even as they emerged out of the alley, one right after the other, the fleeing culprit stumbling for a moment, but still not falling behind enough for the officer to catch him or knock him down. Bosco almost slipped on some discarded garbage, cursed momentarily, and carried on.
The man, dressed roughly in tightly fastened shirt, sweater and torn jacket, ran out into the road, dodging cars and trucks, diving out of the way when he reached the other side.
Bosco was right behind him, sliding over the hood of a Mercedes when it failed to stop, shouting angrily at the driver for a split second, barely even slowing. Still, he managed to keep a hold of his gun.
The guy had managed to get a good few metres ahead of Bosco, but that didn't put him off at all. He knew he was going to catch this guy. He rarely failed to.
Bosco heard the wailing of sirens, and apparently, so did the man he was chasing. His head tilted noticeably, and his pace quickened amazingly.
Bosco panted as he ran, his breath escaping him quickly in the heat of pursuit. They were coming up on an intersection on the corner of Columbus and West-97th. Bosco saw a squad car skid to a halt right in front of the man, causing him to ram right into the hood.
Yokas skidding up alongside the sidewalk where Bosco ran caused him to halt abruptly, looking down at her in the driver's seat, and then over the wide street to the two cops bursting out of their unit and grabbing the man roughly.
They struggled for quite a time, fighting to restrain him.
Bosco sighed loudly and irritably, and holstered his weapon, moving around the car, Yokas climbing out of the driver's seat.
But as he cleared the unit, he saw Faraday rammed back into the hood of the squad, and Gregory grabbed tightly by the scruff of his uniform. With his free hand, the criminal tore open his jacket, and pressed something with considerable force.
Bosco and Yokas were thrown to the ground with the force of the massive explosion, which sent the squad car on the other side of the street soaring high into the air in a fiery ball. Windows close by shattered with the shockwave, and people all around screamed in terror.
Bosco covered his head instinctively, even as glass and metal crashed down around him. After a moment, he risked looking out from beneath his arm, and felt his breath sucked out of him in horror when the squad car landed with a boom on the road, flames erupting from beneath the hood of the vehicle.
He scrambled to his feet, Yokas right behind him, her hair dislodged and whipping around her head with the heat wave that floated over to them quickly from the burning vehicle.
Sully and Davis arrived then, even as Bosco was running quickly to a body that lay motionless on the road close to where he had last been standing. Bosco felt for a pulse, surprised at the heat of the man's skin as he touched it. He was badly burned, but as Bosco turned him over, he realised Faraday had never had a chance. Half of his face was missing.
He felt his eyes glancing around frantically for any sign of Gregory, finding nothing. The young man had been completely blown apart, as had the criminal they had been in pursuit of.
"He was wearin' a bomb," Yokas told Sully in shock as they, along with Davis, stood a few feet back, the latter calling for backup and an ambulance.
"Dammit!" Bosco exclaimed, standing immediately, and staring around. "Don't bother, Davis... they're all dead, all three of 'em."
* * *
Despite Bosco's declaration, Officer Ty Davis had gone ahead with his call for a bus, which had soon arrived. They had gone straight over to Faraday, and they had agreed with the assessment that he was dead... and had probably died instantly upon detonation of the bomb.
Faith couldn't believe what was going on. Even as she let the paramedic finish patching up her left hand, which had been cut from a piece of falling glass from the shattered windows of their squad car, Faith Yokas let out a long and troubled sigh.
She didn't like this at all. She had known Graham Faraday and William Gregory very well, and had worked with them on more than one occasion. She had also enjoyed their company more than once also, and she was missing the two young men already. They had been good cops, and had never stepped out of line. They had been passionate about their work, and had done a damn good job whenever they were on a patrol.
This shouldn't be happening, she mused with a frown, her eyes looking around slowly at the scene of carnage in the intersection.
The destroyed squad car sat, mostly burned and charred, pieces missing, across the street where the firemen had successfully managed to put out the flames. The windows were gone, and the tyres had burst instantly, leaving only the centre of the axel. The interior of the vehicle was blackened, the Perspex window in the back melted and warped, hanging out of shape beside twisted metal that cut criminals off from police officers. The light casings on the top of the car had been blown off, and the bulbs inside were smouldered, useless.
Three shops had had their windows blown in from the force of the explosion, and one had even caught on fire. The fire fighters had managed to put that out quite quickly as well, and barely anything was damaged.
Bosco and Faith's squad car itself was far from perfect. When the bomb had been detonated, the sheer force of the explosion had sent the windows smashing out, including one headlight. Debris had landed on it as well, denting the hood in two places, and charring it in one other. Glass littered the interior, and some shards had fallen to the road, where Faith had cut her hand without even realising. It had only been when Sully had pointed out the blood that she had even noticed the pain.
Bosco wandered over, having cleared his check with the paramedics, and zipped up his jacket again, shaking his head. Faith realised how tough this had to be on him. Bosco had seen Spencer die yesterday, had saved Hinds life, only to hear of her death this morning, and now this... it was too much for everyone. Police littered the streets, all grave and mournful.
"I don't get it, Faith," Bosco began pensively; eyes turning back to the burned squad Faraday and Gregory had been driving. "If that guy had had the bomb all along, and was hell-bent on not getting' caught, then what was stopping him from turning around blowin' me sky-high?"
Faith nodded her thanks to the paramedic as they finished their work, letting her replace her polo shirt and jacket, and then said in response, "Maybe he wanted a bigger target."
"He could've just blown up the store they were holdin' up," Bosco commented matter-of-factly, pocketing his gloved hands.
Faith stared down at the ground, her mind swelling chaotically with a thousand thoughts that fought for first priority, before she finally mumbled, "They wanted cops."
Their eyes met, and for a moment, Faith was certain she saw a flash of fear in Bosco's eyes, before it was efficiently replaced with anger and rage. She realised then that she should have chosen her words more carefully. Now that she had said that, she knew Bosco would make it his responsibility to avenge his fellow officers' deaths. She didn't want to lose her partner over this.
"I still don't get it," he growled quietly, continuing immediately after a sigh, "if he was so determined to kill cops... if he wanted cops, as you say, then why didn't he just stand out in the middle of the street in front of that building, and blow the bomb as we were arrestin' him?"
"Bosco..." Faith began, just as an approaching figure drew her attention, and she groaned. "Oh great," she grumbled, "Tancreedy."
"I prefer Tancreedy to Finch," Bosco pointed out, kicking half- heartedly at something on the road that wasn't really there.
"How can you prefer him?" Faith asked, lowering the volume of her voice as the detective closed in on them. Just before he called to them, Sully called him over, stalling him without even realising. Faith watched the man move over, and sighed her thanks to Sully for the distraction.
"I just do."
"He's a bigger bigot than Finch is," Faith noted aloud, narrowing her eyes at the back of the man's head momentarily, before gazing back at her partner.
"Tancreedy's not a bigot." Bosco shrugged. "He just has a lot of opinions."
"Yeah," Faith agreed with a vehement nod, "bigoted opinions. Bos', he's three times worse than you!"
Bosco moved a step closer, eyes downcast for a moment, before he said with sincerity, "Faith, I don't think we should argue right now, you know?" He nodded in the direction of the destroyed squad, and the body bag that they were loading Faraday into.
Faith felt her brow furrow with sadness, and she nodded, a lump forming in her throat. She managed to push it back down as she replied in agreement, "Yeah, you're right, Bos'. It's not right."
As one, the two turned, eyes watching the coroner's movement as he worked, shortly before Tancreedy continued on his way over to them.